Crazy NJ Drones Update, Luigi Mangione Documentary, Trump Wins $15M ABC Defamation Settlement, & More
PDS Published 12/16/2024
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We have a bunch of updates to the mysterious drone saga.
Or as I’ve decided to very creatively call it: Drone Gate.
Right, as we talked about last week, there have been a ton of unidentified drones spotted at night flying all over New Jersey.
As well as some surrounding areas of Pennsylvania and New York.
But we really don’t know anything about where they came from or what they’re doing, despite widespread public outcry and demands for answers from state and local leaders.
Right, it’s been reported that most of the drones seen in New Jersey seem to be much larger than what is typically available to hobbyists.
Now, federal, state, and military officials have repeatedly said that the drones do not pose a threat to safety or security and are not believed to be coming from a foreign actor.
But they also haven’t been able to provide any answers.
And since we last talked about it, the mystery has just deepened even more with drone sightings expanding to other states.
Right, according to reports, sightings have now also been reported in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, California and Ohio.
And there have been some notable disruptions and incidents.
For example, Stewart Airfield north of New York City was forced to temporarily shut down its runways for about an hour last week due to drone activity.
And an Air Force base in Ohio also closed off its airspace for several hours for the same reason.
Beyond that, two suspects were also arrested for “hazardous drone operation” near Logan Airport in Boston.
And a Chinese citizen was placed under arrest for allegedly flying a drone and taking pictures of a Space Force base in California.
But, very notably here, police haven’t given any indication that either of these arrests are connected to any of the drone sightings around the country.
And again, top officials maintain that there’s no evidence that the broader Drone Gate situation is the result of foreign actor activity.
And to that point, one thing I want to make very clear is that we don’t know how or even if any of these events are tied together.
There is no way to say if sightings in Ohio are connected to what’s happening in New Jersey.
Right, the drone activity we’ve seen in New Jersey, which still seems to be happening at a scale and level of coordination that’s not being seen in other places.
Which is also why we had officials from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and White House all giving press briefings specifically addressing the situation in New Jersey.
With those officials saying they have determined that the vast majority of the drone sightings there are actually manned aircraft like helicopters and planes that are being operated legally.
And specifically, an FBI official said that the agency created a national tip line to report the drones.
But of the 5,000 tips, “less than 100 leads have been generated and deemed worthy of further investigative activity.”
And again, the officials reiterated that they have not found any indication of criminal activity, foreign interference, malicious intent, or a threat to safety and national security.
Now, that said, you did have some New Jersey lawmakers pushing back against the claim by federal officials that most of the drones are manned aircraft.
But, at the same time, we also saw Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey actually walking back a video he shared on X showing what appeared to be a cluster of drones flying near a reservoir in the state.
With him openly acknowledging that, after further analysis, he determined that the crafts were “almost certainly planes.”[]
And with all this, we saw Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas going on ABC News yesterday to try and set the record straight:
“There's no question that people are seeing drones.” 00:11 - 00:14
“Some of those drone sightings are, in fact, drones. Some are manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones. And we do see duplicative reporting. But there's no question that drones are being sighted. Let me set the record straight here, George. There are thousands of drones flown every day in the United States, recreational drones, commercial drones. That is the reality, and in September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night. And that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk.” 00:28 - 1:12
With him also going on to say that Congress needs to expand the ability of federal, state and local authorities to crack down on drones.
Though, on that note, we have seen some significant efforts here.
Right, Mayorkas and other federal officials have consistently said that they are channeling considerable resources, personnel, and technology to address the situation.
And, just yesterday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that federal officials are sending a “drone detection system” to her state.
Though she also echoed Mayorkas’ call for Congress to give state governments more power to “deal directly with the drones” — an idea that has also been backed by other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
With some — including Trump — also arguing that relevant authorities should be given the ability to shoot the drones down.
So for now, we’ll have to wait and see if any of that happens, as well as if we can ever get real clarity here.
But, in the meantime, the general air of mystery around Drone Gate has created a lot of space for conspiracy theories to flourish.
This including one unverified theory that took off over the weekend after being amplified by Joe Rogan.
With that coming from a now-viral TikTok posted by a man named John Ferguson, who is the CEO of a remote aircraft system company in Kansas.
And in the nine-minute-long video, Ferguson said he believed that the drones are being used to detect a gas leak or radioactive material, arguing that they wouldn’t be flying so low and at night unless they were trying to “smell something.”
With Ferguson launching into a rambling and confusing explanation where he seemed to be heavily implying that the drones are being used to track down a nuke that went missing when President Reagan shut down the nuclear program with Russia.
Claiming that an unnamed source told him that he had alerted the government about a nuclear warhead from Ukraine that “was heading towards the United States”
And then seemingly implying that he thinks the Biden Administration ignored that warning because it wants to go to war with Russia, adding:
“With this gentleman that I had spoken with who was trying to raise the alarm to try to get somebody in the government to say ‘hey, we need to work together to go try to find this nuclear warhead,’ none of that ever happened. They knew that warhead was on its way to the United States, that’s all that ever came of it. Nothing ever happened. This government did not do anything at all to help this gentleman raise the alarm and raise awareness that there was a very deadly weapon on its way to the United States. It's out there, nobody knows where it's at now. It left Europe and now it's gone.” 5:32 - 6:14
Right, and with that, you had Rogan retweeting that video and writing:
“This is the first video about these drones that has got me genuinely concerned.”[]
But we’ve also seen a ton of people pushing back at Ferguson’s claims, arguing that they are totally unverified and there is no evidence, just pure speculation.[][][]
Still, you also had Rogan casting doubt on the claims by top government officials who said most of the drones are actually legally operated manned aircraft.
With him arguing that those claims are “sus” and then adding:[]
“I want to believe it’s adderalled up incels holed up in a basement fucking with ‘the man’ more than I want it to be aliens.”[]
And all of that that just serving to stoke more conspiracies and misinformation in the replies.
Right, and on that note, I know it might be frustrating to not know what’s going on here, and all the mystery and secrecy just opens the situation up for misinformation to flourish.
But please, please, PLEASE be careful of the information you and consume and spread out there.
And, of course, we’ll continue to keep an eye on this situation and keep you updated.
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And then, we have some quick updates on Luigi Mangione (Man-jee-own-ee), the suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Starting with the question: how soon is too soon for a documentary?
The documentary is coming from Anonymous Content and Jigsaw Productions, and it will follow the shooting, as well as the response and general outrage against the healthcare system.
Reports did not say what the timeline for production and release would be, so we will have to see how that plays out alongside Luigi’s case,
Because we also got some major updates there over the weekend.
Reports saying that Luigi has retained a high-profile attorney to represent him in New York, where he is facing a murder charge.
That lawyer is Karen Friedman Agnifilo (Freedman Ag-nif-uh-low), who worked as the chief assistant district attorney in Manhattan for seven years, but now has a private practice.
Right now, she has not given any statements about the case, but you had one source telling CNN that she has “as much experience as any human being, especially in the state court.”
Thomas Dickey is still representing Luigi in Pennsylvania, and has continued to indicate Luigi will plead not guilty to the counts he is facing there, as well as the murder charge in New York.
He also previously said that Luigi would contest his extradition to New York, but that might be changing.[]
With the Manhattan DA saying he has seen indications that Luigi might waive his right to fight it, but we will not know for sure until tomorrow.[]
We also have some more insight into how Luigi may have been identified, as the FBI said that investigators actually received a tip from San Francisco Police identifying him as a potential suspect.][
His family had previously reported Luigi missing in San Francisco, and reports say that after getting this tip, the NYPD reached out to his mother, and she said the images shared of the potential suspect could be her son.[]
Though, right now we don’t know when that tip came in or how crucial it was in his eventual arrest.[]
But the biggest update related to this story actually does not have to do with Luigi or his case, it has to do with a major report about UnitedHealthcare.
Because ProPublica published an investigation alleging that the company is strategically restricting and denying care for kids with autism.
The outlet obtained the company’s “playbook” on this, which is developed by the subsidiary Optum, which manages mental health benefits at United.
With the article saying:
“In internal reports, the company acknowledges that the therapy, called applied behavior analysis, is the ‘evidence-based gold standard treatment for those with medically necessary needs.’ But the company’s costs have climbed as the number of children diagnosed with autism has ballooned…”
“So Optum is ‘pursuing market-specific action plans’ to limit children’s access to the treatment.”
With documents showing that Optum is aware that there are very long wait lists for this therapy, but still aims to prevent new providers from joining the network and getting rid of existing ones.
Which means that impacted families would have to try to find a new provider, which is incredibly hard, or pay tens of thousands of dollars for this therapy.
Per ProPublica, the company is also questioning the medical necessity of the therapy for some patients, which can lead to coverage denials.
These strategies would specifically impact kids covered through state-contracted Medicaid plans, which United runs in about two dozen states, impacting 10,000 children with autism spectrum disorder.
And ProPublica spoke to a number of people outraged by this, some even questioning the legality of it as there are federal laws requiring insurers to provide equal access to mental and physical care.
With the founder of the Autism Legal Resource Center saying:
“Yes, this therapy can be expensive. But solving the problem by denying kids access to medically necessary care is a terrible solution.”
Karen Fessel, the founder of the Mental Health and Autism Insurance Project also saying that this strategy is “unconscionable and immoral,” adding:
“They’re denying access to treatment and shrinking a network at a time when they clearly know that there is an urgent need.”
The outlet also spoke to a mother whose son has autism and is impacted by this.
Her son was three when he was diagnosed, and prior to that she wondered if he would ever speak, and she could not take him out in public because he would frequently scream out of frustration.
But after two years in therapy, he could start saying a few small words.
By the time he was 7 his tantrums grew less frequent, his mom could take him to the grocery store.
But in periods where he has had less hours of therapy, his progress regressed dramatically.
And his therapists have concluded that he needed his time increased to 33 hours a week to progress, but Optum said it would not cover those full hours, arguing her son had not shown enough progress after being in the therapy for so long.
And experts say that denying full hours for that reason makes no sense, because it’s not like autism is an injury that fully recovers with enough time, and this therapy can be medically necessary for a long time just to maintain skills or prevent regression.
And it is worth noting that ProPublica started this investigation well before UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was shot, and reached out to the company a month ago for comment.
And as of 11 days ago, the company still did not respond to its questions, eventually citing the killing of Brian Thompson as the reason why.
But obviously, this reporting comes as people have been calling out issues with the healthcare industry, often with United specifically.
The CEO of UnitedHealth Group, which is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, actually tried to address this on Friday by writing an op-ed in the New York Times titled: “The Health Care System Is Flawed. Let’s Fix It.”
That op-ed specifically focusing on Brian Thompson at some points, saying he was always focused on helping people and fixing this system, adding:
“The ideas he advocated were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human.”
Saying the company is aware that the health system does not work as it should, but it is “willing to partner with anyone… to find ways to deliver high-quality care and lower costs.”
But this op-ed did not land well, the Times had to turn comments off after people lashed out.
Many just not buying that this company wants to help anyone, pointing to their own horror stories. []
So this outrage we have seen at the industry over the last two weeks or so is really going nowhere, and we will obviously be seeing what else comes of it here.
Whether it be in this more public conversation, in updates to the case, any or anywhere else.
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There are few public health interventions as safe, as effective, and as slam dunk uncontroversial as the polio vaccine.
Right, by the 1950s polio killed or paralyzed more than half a million people worldwide every year. [Image and quote, find “half a million”]
And then, big-brained scientists invented two vaccines that the entire world took over the next several decades. [Image]
So that today, polio has been virtually eradicated from the Earth. [Image]
Right, it’s such a textbook case of a vaccine working that even Donald Trump couldn’t help but praise it last week. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 02:34 - 02:41] Caption: “The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If somebody told me, get rid of the polio vaccine, they’re gonna have to work real hard to convince me.”
Yet The New York Times is now reporting that RFK Jr., Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is working with a man who wants to pull the polio shot off the market. [Headline]
Right, Aaron Siri [Seer-ee], who served as RFK’s personal lawyer during his presidential bid and is currently helping him pick officials for the new administration? [Image]
He petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval for the polio vaccine in 2022.
With him doing this on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network, an anti-vax group.
And arguing that there needs to be “a properly controlled and properly powered double-blind trial of sufficient duration” to assess the safety of the vaccine. [Quote]
Now to be clear, there is no evidence that the polio vaccine is unsafe or causes autism, and it’s been rigorously studied both in and out of the lab.
Right, according to the CDC, no serious adverse events related to the inactivated polio vaccine have been documented. [Quote, find “serious adverse”]
But as for Siri’s demand that we need a “properly controlled” double-blind trial, there’s a reason we don’t give placebos for diseases like polio.
Namely that we’d have to deliberately infect healthy people with an incurable virus that’s not widely circulating and risk killing or paralyzing them for the rest of their lives. [Quote, find “rest of their life”]
So obviously, under the current administration, the FDA’s almost certainly not going to take Siri’s petition very seriously.
But if Trump gets RFK Jr. confirmed at the HHS, he could intervene in the FDA’s petition review process, which is still ongoing.
And polio’s not the only one his lawyer has gone after.
Right, according to the Times, Siri has also petitioned the government to pause the distribution of 13 other vaccines. [Image and quote, find “13”]
And in that same Meet the Press interview where Trump praised the polio vaccine, he repeated anti-vax talking points multiple times. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 00:10 - 00:18] Caption: [Kristen Welker:] “Do you want to see childhood vaccines eliminated?” [Donald Trump:] “If they’re dangerous for the children, look …” [Kristen Welker:] “So possibly?” [Donald Trump:] “When you look at some of the problems …”
Now fortunately for fans of public health, RFK would have a difficult time getting already well established drugs taken off the market.
Right, the FDA would need to outline a new safety concern in writing and give the vaccine’s maker a chance to respond.
Then, it would hold a hearing and make a decision.
And finally, if the company didn’t agree with that decision, it could sue the agency.
But all of this is assuming that RFK actually gets confirmed to his post, which is not a guarantee.
Right, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is himself a polio survivor, came out swinging in response to the Times’ reporting.
With him stating, “The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous. Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.” [Quote]
But now Trump is apparently trying to calm some nerves with a statement saying:
“You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine. That’s not going to happen. I saw what happened with the polio, I have friends that were very much affected by that. I have friends from many years ago, and … they’re still in not such good shape because of it.” [Quote]
So we’ll see what happens with this, but if anything, it’s at least a glimpse of what the next four years are gonna look like.
Links:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/13/health/kennedy-lawyer-fda-polio-vaccine/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/health/aaron-siri-rfk-jr-vaccines.html
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President-elect Donald Trump had a pretty good weekend after ABC News agreed to a $15 million settlement with him to end a defamation lawsuit.
This all stems from a March 10th interview George Stephanopoulos had with Rep. Nancy Mace where he said this:
“I’m asking you a question about why you endorse someone who has been found liable of rape.”
“It’s a civil court that found him liable of rape.” @0:06-0:15
Just one problem: No where in the verdicts against Trump does it mention rape as defined under New York Law.
Instead, Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and ordered to pay nearly $90 million across the two lawsuits.
But the fact that Trump was only liable for sexual assault instead of rape gave Trump’s legal team the opening to go after ABC News after Stephanopoulos’ comments.
But instead of fighting this tooth and nail, ABC News decided to just settle, although if it makes the medicine go down easier, Trump himself won’t really benefit from the $15 million ABC News is paying.
Instead it’ll go to his Presidential Library and another $1 million will go to his lawyer.
On top of that, ABC News attached an editor’s note onto the article dating from that time describing the interview that says:
“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024.” []
However, the fact that they settled has made some people really upset.
“ABC News can fuck all the way off for settling with Trump and paying him $15M. The Judge called it rape. E. Jean Carroll called it rape. Not only did ABC bow down to a fascist, they minimized survivors everywhere.” []
And a little note on this:
While the order didn’t find Trump liable for Rape, the judge did point out that’s because of how narrowly it was defined, adding that it was rape “as commonly understood.”[]
Right, so as far as they were concerned the sexual assault vs. rape argument was splitting hairs over something without a real-world difference.
That alone was possibly enough to defend against the defamation lawsuit.
But it’s entirely possible -- as some have pointed out -- that even if they were in the right, it’s just cheaper and better for business to settle.
Regardless, this situation sparked concerns that this would just embolden Trump and his allies to go after the media.
Which is something they very much want to do.
Right, Trump has long said that he wants to change libel laws and Supreme Court precedent that makes it VERY difficult to go after people - especially for public figures.
On top of this, two of Trump’s most high-profile nominees for cabinet positions have also issued warnings to journalists.
Both Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel have warned journalists that they’d be targeted for what they wrote.
And beyond that both have a history with defamation lawsuits.
In 2021 Patel set up the Kash Patel Legal Offense Trust, which helps finance libel and defamation lawsuits.
He also once said that if he was in charge, he’d go after journalists -- a statement he claims was taken out of context and now hangs over is confirmation.
He has since pack-peddled somewhat and added:
“I’ve always said this, I think reporters are invaluable. Like, who else is going to tell the world what’s going on in Washington or wherever, right?”
Looking at Hegseth also shows that he’s more than willing to use the threat of defamation to silence people.
For example, he was accused of sexual assault back in 2017 which was ultimately ended with a secret settlement.
His lawyers claim she’s free to say whatever she wants… kinda.
In an interview with CNN this month, his lawyer warned that:
“If she doesn't tell the truth. If she repeats these false statements, then she will be subject to a defamation lawsuit.”[]
And in general Trump supporters were stoked for this decision and that it keeps the media in check.
Which isn’t surprising since many of Trump’s biggest supporters -- like Elon Musk -- have long accused the media of lying with little accountability for those “lies.”
But what do you think?
Should ABC News have settled?
And do you think concerns about Trump and his allies wanting to open up defamation lawsuits is a dangerous thing, or a needed tool to keep others accountable?
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In international news, we seriously need to talk about the situation in Syria.
Right, because as the country’s new leaders are working to solidify a new national government in Damascus – and the world is still waiting to see exactly what type of government that is….
There’s also all these other moving pieces shifting around the board and making everything more complicated.
For example, you have the Israeli government now announcing a multimillion dollar plan to double the number of Israelis living in the Golan Heights.
Right, that’s Syrian territory Israel seized during the 1967 Six-Day War.
It is considered illegally occupied under international law.
Notably, however, Donald Trump made the US the first country in the world to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area during his first term in office.
With Israel then unveiling a new settlement by the name of “Trump Heights.”
And with that, there are roughly 30,000 Israelis spread across dozens of illegal settlements in the Golan Heights already.
They live alongside minority groups who predominantly identify as Syrian[]
And now, Netanyahu, possibly emboldened by another Trump presidency, is pointing to the chaos in Syria as justification to expand settlements, saying:
“Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the state of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold on to it, cause it to blossom and settle in it.” []
And of course, this isn’t the only action Israel’s been taking in response to the fall of Assad.
Right, it’s also been launching airstrikes all across Syria and carried out a ground offensive BEYOND the occupied Golan Heights and into a previously demilitarized buffer zone.
With Israel giving no timeline for its departure, only saying that it would stay until its security demands were met.
With one senior IDF official claiming:
“There was an enemy country here. Its army collapsed. There is a threat that terror elements will come here, and we advanced so … extreme terror elements won’t settle close to the border with us.” []
Adding: “We are unequivocally intervening only in what determines Israeli citizens’ security.” []
And with that, Netanyahu is claiming to have “no interest” in a conflict with Syria.
Instead, saying Israeli actions in the neighboring country were intended to, quote, "thwart the potential threats from Syria and to prevent the takeover of terrorist elements near our border." []
But of course, you have critics saying rather than thwarting threats, they’re creating them.
In fact, a former prime ministers telling the BBC he did not "see any reason" for the country to expand into Golan Heights.[]
And adding:
"The prime minster said we are not interested in expanding the confrontation with Syria and we hope we will not need to fight against the new rebels that are presently taking over Syria. So why do we do precisely the opposite?”[]
And then, you have Syria’s de facto new leader, for example, saying:
“Israeli arguments have become weak and no longer justify their recent violations. The Israelis have clearly crossed the lines of engagement in Syria, which poses a threat of unwarranted escalation in the region.”[]
Though, notably, you also have him arguing that “diplomatic solutions” are the only way to ensure stability.[]
And adding:
“Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.”[]
Of course, his comments have done little to appease the Israeli government.
Right, Israeli airstrikes have continued (BROLL: 0:52-1:06)
In fact, with the latest, Israel has reportedly struck Syria more than 450 times since the collapse of the Assad government.
Destroying Syria’s navy and dozens of air bases, ammunition depots and other military equipment.[]
With the UN secretary general, for example, calling Israel’s actions “ extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.[]
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